New Bass Pickguard Day (Pics)

[Nick]

I still have the chrome plates I bought from MoRawka a few months back when I first bought this bass....unsure whether I want to put them on or not....I'm going to have to test out a bass with the plates already on it to see if it would affect my playing negatively...thinking of doing it anyway for the fact that it looks awesome tho-

[westtexasred]

I still have the chrome plates I bought from MoRawka a few months back when I first bought this bass....unsure whether I want to put them on or not....I'm going to have to test out a bass with the plates already on it to see if it would affect my playing negatively...thinking of doing it anyway for the fact that it looks awesome tho-

Cool.What was the pickguard that you replaced?

[Nick]

It's a Squier Classic Vibe P-Bass, so it was the stock tortoiseshell which honestly doesn't look bad either, I'm just more a fan of parch and mint guards

[honeyiscool]

I have a question, a serious one.

How do you play your bass when there's a big piece of metal on it? Like where do you anchor your thumb, etc.

Also, does the pinky rest do anything?

[Nick]

That's the thing, those plates are really for aesthetics, not really ergonomics. They also do nothing to alter the tone. As it is now I anchor my thumb on the pickup, I'd imagine I might anchor my thumb on pickup cover if I installed it. Like I said, I want to play one for a while with covers already installed before I actually take the drill to it.

IIRC the story goes that the so called "thumb rest" was an original design flaw from Leo Fender, as the electric bass hadn't been really "invented" yet he imagined bass players would use their thumbs to play the instrument and put a rest to anchor the other fingers....obviously this wasn't the case for MOST bassists, although I have seen some bass players in pro bands use their thumbs. I think people just like them there because it "looks classic"

What I think I might do with the thumbrest considering this pickguard didn't come with the holes predrilled is this:

[SKC Willie]

On my jazz bass I put a cover over the neck pickup. I used it a thumb rest but I usually player over the bridge.

It also gave you a good place to rest your hand if you wanted to slap and go Marcus Miller all over everyone's ass.

[honeyiscool]

Yeah I actually love having that, it's perfect and actually gets a lot of use. My Musicmaster Bass has one:



I feel like putting one on every bass guitar.

[James]

The tort on these is terrible. It's a million times better with the new pickguard.

I have a pickup cover on my jazz bass and it's very useful as a finger rest when I play without a plectrum, which is how I play most of the time, but can get in the way if I do use one.

You could try using double sided tape to test the plates out a little. They won't be on as firmly as with screws but it will be enough to give it a go and see if they work with how you play.

[Sparky]

Gah, your bass is sexy as hell. And that lefty Mustang? :drool:

In my experience, the Jazz Bass covers kinda just get in the way. Did I remove them? Hell no, they look fantastic!

It forces you to mount your thumb on the cover and play fingerstyle unless you wanna try plucking in that 1.5" gap between covers. The cover gives you a little more to grip on than just the bare pickup, but it's not necessarily advantageous.

[Billy3000]

I had never heard that about the original finger rests on the fender basses but it makes sense that it is a flaw, I've never seen anybody ever play bass with their thumb, except when palm muting.

[Nick]

Gah, your bass is sexy as hell. And that lefty Mustang? :drool:
.

Lefty Mustang? You might have me confused with someone else.

Thanks for the comments on the bass tho

[honeyiscool]

I had never heard that about the original finger rests on the fender basses but it makes sense that it is a flaw, I've never seen anybody ever play bass with their thumb, except when palm muting.

Paul McCartney definitely does. Larry Graham when he is not slapping.

[Lucamo]

I had never heard that about the original finger rests on the fender basses but it makes sense that it is a flaw, I've never seen anybody ever play bass with their thumb, except when palm muting.

Paul McCartney definitely does. Larry Graham when he is not slapping.

Paul simonon, and a lot of Reggae players

[robroe]

it looks awesome this way

[avj]

Very awesome. The chrome is super sexy.

[Sparky]

Gah, your bass is sexy as hell. And that lefty Mustang? :drool:
.

Lefty Mustang? You might have me confused with someone else.

Thanks for the comments on the bass tho

I swear that someone in this thread posted a picture lank to a red lefty mustang bass. Curse having multiple tabs open!

[stewart]

My sonic blue CV precision has the bridge cover on it and it doesn't get in the way. It's actually quite comfy to rest your hand on. The pickup cover would totally get in my way, even though it looks cool. Good decision on the guard too, the tort on those is revolting.